A New Home
by Kusari-Gama 61602
Summary: Short prequel to 'Triple Trouble.' How Snake-Eyes and Scarlett ended up with three wolf puppies. Told from Dojo's POV.


**A/N:** Sorry for starting so many stories and then never updating them. :P But I promise this will be relatively short. It only has two chapters and the second one is already 25% written. So bear with me.

This short story is told from Dojo's P.O.V. so - yes - it's first person. Dojo was Snake-Eyes' wolf in a comic issue (can't quite remember which right now) and, yes, he was seen with three puppies.

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><p>The rabbit in my jaws is young and tender, and its scent fills my nose as I trot along. I wish to sink my teeth into it and eat it, but I cannot. Because the rabbit is not for me. It is for my pretty mate and the pups she is currently guarding.<p>

This birth-season, she dug a hole under a tree and disappeared in it for several sunrises. She will not let me near the den, but I hear little whines whenever I go to give her meat.

I hear four distinctive voices every time I visit. Four pups. Four new members of my pack. A healthy number.

I cannot wait to see them. I hear them and smell them, but my mate does not let me see yet. They are too little and fragile.

I am very excited. I wish to show them everything; from the tree that squirrels frequent to the wonder that is the hot meat my former Alpha gives. He lets me into his territory, even though I am now Alpha of my own pack.

I do not feel bad for leaving him. His mate's scent has changed; she is with puppy. His pack will grow very soon, and it will not just be him and his mate. Perhaps if he still lets me into his territory, I will get to see the puppy.

I approach the den site and put down the meat to call for my mate with a howl. I like howling. It feels nice in my throat.

I howl and I howl, but strangely, my mate does not call back. Odd. She never leaves the pups. She should respond. This rabbit smells very delicious. I might eat it if she decides she doesn't want it.

Sniff sniff. Her scent is faint on the wind. Three hours old. Strange. It should be more recent.

Something is wrong. Ears pricking, I pick up the rabbit and head towards the den. I pass the place she meets up with me to pick up the meat, and yet she doesn't stop me from getting closer. I break into a run.

I find the den. It is under a tree, and looks small. I edge closer. Mate? Where is she? She is not here.

I hear the whimpers of pups and I stick my snout into the den. Puppies! They are still there, but the smell is all wrong. Mate keeps her den clean. This den _stinks_. That is not good. Other animals can smell it and come. Like bears. Bears eat wolf pups. The pups are in danger.

I turn my head in all directions, sniffing. I do not know what to do! The pups are very weak and I should not leave, but my mate is missing. I must go find her.

I poke my head back into the den and give the pups a lick. I will be back soon.

A whiff of the air for my mate's scent, and I am off - running, running, running, the feel of rocks and mountain and plants under my paws. Mate! Where is she? Her scent is faint and in the direction of the big, bare trail that metal monsters roar on.

I stay away from those monsters.

When I reach the trail, my nose tells me it's been two and a half hours since the last monster roared by, the same time my mate was here. Odd. She doesn't like the monsters either. I carefully set one paw down after the other, in case one of those monsters appeared. I pick up a new scent.

_Blood. Death-smell._

Mixed with my mate's scent. On the trail. Her scent stops here. It doesn't go anywhere else. She came here and... vanished.

I paw the area of the blood smell and whimper. My mate was here. Right here. I do not know where she is, but she was here.

I want to curl up here and wait for her, but it's in the middle of the trail, and I can already hear a monster in the distance.

I throw back my head and howl, loud and long: where is my mate?

There is no answer.

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><p>My puppies won't stop crying. I lick them and clean them, but they keep whimpering. They are hungry. What do I do?<p>

One is very, very weak. She no longer has the strength to cry, and lays there, barely moving. I have licked her, and licked her, but she does not respond.

I have to do something. They must feed, but where do I find food for them? Their jaws are weak and cannot rip even soft meat, and my mate has not returned.

I do not think she will ever return.

I listen to the pups' sad, sad cries and whimper myself. I have no choice. They are going to die. I cannot help them. My pack is dead before it could even start.

The wind blows, carrying scent particles, and I instinctively sniff. My ears prick. Ah, that smell. It is most familiar to me: Alpha's female.

I sit up. Of course! Alpha's female is with pups! She must have milk! And she is strong; she could convince Alpha not to kill my puppies.

That is, if she doesn't kill them herself.

But I do not think she will. Alpha's female is most kind.

I give each of the pups a lick and bolt away from the den, running as fast as I can. My ears lay against my neck as rocks and trees become a blur. I know the path to Alpha's den well, and the ground here is familiar.

Alpha's female is alone. Alpha must be out hunting. Good.

She sees me. I slow down, and approach cautiously with my tail hanging low. I abandoned this pack a while ago, and I do not know if she will let me stay or chase me out of her territory. It is a big risk.

Instead, I hear her yelp, "Dojo!?" That is what she calls me. I do not know what she means by that but I respond when she says it.

She walks over to me. I keep my head low. Then her face is just above mine and I feel her limbs around my chest in what she calls a "hug." My tail goes up. That feels _nice_.

"Dojo! Where have you been? Snake-Eyes has been feeling down ever since you left, you know that? Ooh, you big boy, I've missed you."

She looks happy. She _sounds _happy. This is perfect. I pull away from her with a short yip and circle her.

"Dojo? What's up?" She pets me on my head. I yip again and bound off, looking back at her.

She stares at me, then follows. I blink. Alpha chose a very smart mate. Not that I didn't know already, of course.

I trot along. Alpha's kind aren't very fast. Over long distances, that is. Alpha strikes with the speed of a snake sometimes.

I do not like snakes. They are not good to eat and they bite so quickly.

I lead Alpha's female to the den and sit down, whimpering. She slows down and looks around cautiously. I blink in approval. She knows this is another wolf's den, and that she must be careful. What she cannot smell, however, is that my mate had not returned to this den for a long time.

She eventually gets down on her belly and peek inside the den. "Puppies!" was her squeal as she crawled deeper in. I can hear the cries of the wolf pups.

Her head poked out and she smiled at me. Usually showing teeth meant you wanted a fight, but with Alpha's kind, it meant you were happy. "Dojo! Are these... are these yours? They're so tiny! But where's their mother?" She pulls out of the den. I feel myself relax; I can still hear the puppies. If Alpha's female wanted to kill them, they would be dead by now, for sure.

Suddenly, I can sense her mood change. Her shoulders sank, her face changed, and the joy she displayed before upon seeing the puppies was gone. Slowly, she reached back into the den, and carefully pulled out a small bundle of fur. "Oh-hhh..." She bowed her head as she held it towards me.

I sniff it. It is the female pup from before, the one who didn't even have the strength to cry.

I whimper and lick the puppy. She is still warm, but there was no doubting the death-smell emanating from her little body. I make small noises in my throat as I nose the puppy, but there is no response. She's gone.

Alpha's female strokes the dead puppy tenderly, as if it were her own. She is obviously distressed. I whine and lick her face, trying to soothe her. Alpha's female should never be distressed. It is not good for the sake of the pack.

"Poor little one," she says quietly as she carefully sets the puppy down. "What kind of a mother would abandon her puppies like this?" She turns to look at me. I blink back before breaking eye contact. "Is this why you led me here? To get these puppies some help?"

I do not understand what she said, but I whimper and lick her face again, trying to appease her.

"Alright. Uhh..." She looks around and sighs. "... Well, I suppose nobody else going to do it." She shakes off a layer of her skin. It is most odd to see. Alpha's kind have multiple skins that change everyday.

She lays the skin on the ground and crawls into the den. One by one, the surviving puppies appear, all squealing and wriggling until they are put down on the laid out skin.

"Awwww, sorry, little guys. Just hang in there a little longer." She strokes them each once before wrapping the skin around them and lifting it. She takes the dead puppy in her other hand and shows her to me. "We'll get this little one buried. Don't you worry, Dojo." She smiles at me before walking back towards her and Alpha's den.

I trot alongside her with great relief. Alpha's female has the puppies now. She will care for them. But Alpha has yet to know that there are new additions to the pack, and he might kill them since they are not his puppies. The pups are not out of danger yet.

It turns out I brought Alpha's female to the den at the right time. While she got the pups warm, I went back to sniff around, and there was a bear there, attracted by the scent of weak puppies. I watch as it digs out the den, searching for wolf puppies, and its obvious disappointment when there were none.

Then it turns its nose in the air, smelling. It makes a rough noise, and starts heading away from the den... and straight towards Alpha's territory.

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><p><strong>Another AN:** In case it wasn't clear, Dojo thinks the only time animals can give birth is Spring, for obvious reasons.


End file.
